As a boss, you are constantly looking for ways to improve the productivity of your employees and enable them to do their best work. However, depending on the environment you work in, this can prove to be easier said than done.
Often, people will fall into routines that get the job done just barely and this leaves room for setbacks and interruptions to be disastrous. Just because you are managing to get along with the system you are using now doesn’t mean you should be complacent and stop looking for ways to improve the work environment.
One new office productivity solution that has become increasingly popular over the years is the busylight. It is essentially a LED indicator that can be hooked up to existing business systems, like phones and laptops, so as to give clear indications of the availability of operators.
A good example of how a busylight is used is in workplaces where employees need to make a lot of phone calls to prospective or existing clients. An indicator that is hooked up to a phone system or a Skype account can easily let others know when the user is busy on a call and shouldn’t be disturbed.
Let’s take at how you can use this technology to improve the productivity of your office employees.
Reduce interruptions
The first and most obvious benefit of a busylight is that it reduces or eliminates interruptions in the office. This is because it will allow workers who are in phone calls to confidently focus on their conversation without fear of being interrupted by a colleague.
Think of it like a traffic indicator for your work desk, with green for “go” and red for “stop”. The system can be easily set up so that the colour will change as soon as you pick up/put down your handset or headset.
They aren’t just limited to phone calls as they can be synced up with pretty much anything. For example, if you wanted to focus on a creative task you could hook it up so that it activates when you open a word processing program or an editing program. There really is no limit to the kind of functionality a busylight can give your office workspace.
Boost general productivity
While productivity will obviously be improved when there are fewer interruptions, you should also consider the effect that having this knowledge gives your workers. Knowing that they have an clear yet subtle way to inform others that they are busy on a task enables workers to focus 100% on what they are doing from beginning to end.
This all means workers will begin and finish tasks at a faster rate because they won’t be checking over their shoulder to worry about what others might ask of them. This effectively gives workers the confidence to get their work done as efficiently as possible.
Motivates your employees to work harder
Another benefit of a busylight is that it a subtle reinforcement of the expectation of workers to use their time responsibly. This is because when the light is turned on, it is telling the office that the employee is working on a task and needs to focus.
A worker who has their busylight turned on will be far less likely to be distracted with their phone or by chatting to co-workers. It serves as a subtle reminded to workers that they are expected to be focused on what they are doing.
It also keeps you on your toes as a manager. If you’re indicator is switched on and you’re not really doing anything, you’ll probably lose the respect of your employees and some of your authority in the workplace.